Network Homes backs 'Homes for Heroes'
12 May 2020
We are a member of the G15 group of London's largest housing association and are backing the G15's call to build low cost Homes for Heroes, to thank our heroic essential workers who’ve kept Britain going during the coronavirus outbreak.
Inspired by the ‘Homes fit For Heroes’ programme after the First World War, the group has set out a broad outline of how 100,000 new affordable homes for these workers, could be built throughout the country. The G15 stand ready to deliver but would be able to do much more in partnership with the Government, the private sector, local councils, health trusts and charities.
From NHS staff, to care workers, teachers, refuse collectors, delivery workers and many more, Homes for Heroes would see the construction of good quality affordable homes which are well designed, energy efficient and digitally connected. The homes should be equipped with private outside areas and access to high quality green spaces. They should be affordable to heroes on the lowest incomes and include options for essential workers to buy an affordable home of their own – something that is out of reach in many of our cities.
Essential workers on the frontline of this crisis are often among the lowest paid in society. Homes for Heroes is about giving these people a safe, secure and genuinely affordable home to live in. With the collaboration of government and the housing sector, both private and social, we should bring forward a once-in-a-generation number of new homes for our essential workers, including those not eligible for traditional key-worker housing. Homes should be well designed, with private outdoor space, in convenient well-connected locations for healthcare facilities, schools and other employment hubs.
Helen Evans, Chief Executive of Network Homes and Chair of the G15
